User interface systems and methods

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for providing user interfaces are disclosed. In certain embodiments, a menu having a number of icons can be provided on a display device such that the icons are arranged around an initial cursor position, or an area that is touched by a user&#39;s finger or stylus, for example. Due to the icons being arranged around the initial cursor position, any one of the icons from the menu can be chosen with relatively small cursor movement. In certain embodiments, the menu can be divided into regions that overlap with the icons, such that cursor movement from the initial cursor position into a given region has a similar effect as movement into the corresponding icon itself (without actually moving the cursor onto the desired icon).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/107,621, filed on Oct. 22, 2008,which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

This invention relates to computing devices and, more particularly, tosystems and methods of providing user interface for computing devices.

2. Description of the Related Art

In many computer uses, a user selects from a menu displayed on aninterface such as a screen. Such selection can be achieved by, forexample, a cursor based input. An interface device such as a mouse canmove the cursor to a desired location for activating an icon of themenu.

In many situations, such cursor movement can cover significant distanceson the screen. Repetition of cursor movements can result in userfatigue, frustration, and repetitive motion injury. Additionally, whileeach individual movement to a menu of a software application may requirelittle time, repeated use of the menu over time results in a significantamount of cumulative time spent, reducing user productivity andefficiency.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a method for providing a user interface on acomputing device comprises displaying a first menu on a display of acomputing device, the first menu having a first plurality of iconsarranged in an icon region that extends substantially around an initialposition of a cursor, wherein the icon region defines a central regionwithin the icon region that includes the initial cursor position. In oneembodiment, the method further comprises detecting movement of thecursor to a second position within the central region, wherein thesecond position of the cursor is near a first icon of the firstplurality of icons or includes at least a portion of the first icon,changing an appearance of the first icon in response to detectingmovement of the cursor to the second position, wherein the change inappearance indicates that the icon is temporarily selected, initiating afirst action associated with the first icon in response to detecting aninput from the user indicating that the first icon should be permanentlyselected, wherein at least some of the method is performed by thecomputing device.

In one embodiment, a method for providing a user interface on acomputing device comprises displaying a first menu on a display of thecomputing device, the first menu having a plurality of icons arrangedsubstantially around a current position of a cursor, the plurality oficons defining a central region of the display between the plurality oficons and including the current position of the cursor, receiving afirst input indicative of movement of the cursor, determining which ofthe plurality of icons is to be temporarily selected based at least inpart on a pattern of the first input within the central region, andtemporarily selecting the determined icon.

In one embodiment, a computing system comprises a display screen, aninput device configured to facilitate interaction with a user, and aprocessor configured to execute software code that causes the computingsystem to display a menu on the display screen, the menu having aplurality of icons arranged about a home region, detect an inputfacilitated by the input device and indicative of the user's desire toat least temporarily select one of the icons, and determine which of theicons is to be at least temporarily selected based at least in part on apattern of the input, the pattern involving at least a part of the homeregion.

In one embodiment, a method for providing a user interface on acomputing device comprises displaying a first menu on a display of acomputing device, the first menu having a first plurality of iconsarranged in an icon region that extends substantially around aninteraction position, wherein the interaction position comprises an areaof the display where a user or an apparatus controlled by a user touchedthe display, a current position of a cursor, or a predetermined positionon the display. In one embodiment, the method further comprisingreceiving a first user-initiated input indicative of movement from theinteraction position, and in response to the movement, selecting an iconassociated with a direction of the first user-initiated input, whereinat least some of the method is performed by the computing device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 a is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a computingsystem that may be used to implement certain systems and methodsdescribed herein.

FIG. 1 b illustrates an example of a graphical menu and an example ofmouse activity that could be used to initiate its display.

FIG. 1 c illustrates mouse activity that could be used to temporalityselect an icon within the graphical menu of FIG. 1 b.

FIG. 1 d illustrates mouse activity that could be used to permanentlyselect the temporarily selected icon of FIG. 1 c.

FIG. 1 e illustrates how icons within a graphical menu, and icons of asecond graphical menu, can be selected in response to exemplarymovements of a cursor.

FIG. 2 a illustrates an example use of a graphical menu on a handhelddevice, such as a cellular phone, PDA, or tablet computer.

FIG. 2 b further illustrates the use of a graphical menu on a handhelddevice, such as a cellular phone, PDA, or tablet computer.

FIG. 2 c illustrates an example use of a graphical menu on anotherhandheld device that has the ability to monitor its position ormovement.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating screen regions of a sample graphicalmenu, where movement of the cursor between the screen regions in certainmanners may be used to determine which icon within the graphical menuhas been temporarily and/or permanently selected by the user.

FIG. 4 a is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a graphicalmenu including screen regions that may be used to determine which iconwithin the graphical menu has been selected by the user.

FIG. 4 b is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a graphicalmenu including screen regions that may be used to determine which iconwithin the graphical menu has been selected by the user.

FIG. 5 a is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a graphicalmenu.

FIG. 5 b illustrates an icon with multiple icon location points.

FIG. 5 c illustrates a graphical menu including icons with multiple iconlocation points.

FIG. 6 a is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method foroperating a graphical menu.

FIG. 6 b is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of a method foroperating a graphical menu.

FIG. 7 a illustrates an exemplary graphical menu superimposed on ahomogenous screen.

FIG. 7 b illustrates an exemplary graphical menu superimposed on acomplex screen output of a program that called the graphical menu.

FIG. 7 c illustrates sample user interactions with the graphical menuillustrated in FIG. 7 b.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the user interface will now be described with referenceto the accompanying figures, wherein like numerals refer to likeelements throughout. The terminology used in the description presentedherein is not intended to be interpreted in any limited or restrictivemanner, simply because it is being utilized in conjunction with adetailed description of certain specific embodiments of the invention.Furthermore, embodiments of the user interface may include several novelfeatures, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirableattributes or which is essential to practicing the inventions hereindescribed.

People spend large amounts of time interacting with computers andcomputer like devices such as cell phones, PDAs, gaming devices andportable media players. There is a need for improved ways of interactingwith these and other devices that: improves speed and efficiency;reduces repetitive motion injury; is more intuitive; and/or operateswell on small display screens.

Various systems and methods described herein address some or all ofthese issues with embodiments of a flexible graphical menu and anefficient method of interacting with it. While embodiments of the userinterface will be illustrated using display of a graphical menu, soundcould be used as a supplement or replacement for display of thegraphical menu, as will be discussed below.

User Interfaces and Menus

User interfaces are described herein for depicting data on a displaydevice of a computer, where the term “computer” is meant to include anyof the computing devices described above, as well as any otherelectronic device that includes a display and/or other audio outputdevice. Depending on the embodiment, the user interfaces describedherein may provide one or more of several advantages. For example, auser interface may include a graphical menu that appears on demand so itdoes not take up room on the display screen until it is needed. Thisreduces screen clutter and is especially useful with small screens asthere is no need to devote screen pixels to display the menu until it isneeded. In another example, the user does not have to move the screencursor large distances to initiate display of the graphical menu.

In yet another example, the graphical menu appears in a home region,which includes an area surrounding a current cursor position in oneembodiment, or other area with which the user is likely interfacingwith. Therefore, the user does not need to direct his attention to otherareas of the screen, which may provide a particular advantage when usersare concentrating on analyzing content of screen. In yet anotherexample, the user can pick an icon (e.g., that is representative of afunction that may be performed by a software application) within agraphical menu with only minimal mouse movement. In some embodiments, itis not necessary for the user to position the cursor over an icon orclick on it, but only move slightly toward it. This may increase userspeed and efficiency. In addition, the reduction in mouse movement hasthe potential to reduce repetitive motion injury, particularly inapplications where users interface with computers for many hours perdays, for example: radiologists reading medical imaging exams on PictureArchive and Communication Systems; office workers who spend hours perday with email, word processing, and spreadsheet applications, forexample; web surfing; and/or computer gaming.

In another example, the systems and methods described herein may providevisual and/or auditory feedback as to which of the items in a graphicalmenu has been chosen and the user can vary mouse position anddynamically change the selected icon. In yet another example, once auser learns the relative positions of icons within a graphical menu,there is no need for the user to visually examine the presented menu;rather, the user may rapidly choose the desired icon by moving the mouse(or other input device) in the remembered direction (or pattern ofdirections) of the desired icon(s).

The present disclosure is presented generally in the followingstructure. Some terms as used herein are defined for clarity. Anembodiment of an exemplary computing system, which is actuallyrepresentative of any computing system on which user interfaces may bedisplay and interfaced with by a user, is described with reference toFIG. 1 a. FIGS. 1 b-1 e illustrate sample conceptual configurations ofmenus, and exemplary navigation thereof. Embodiments of the userinterface systems and methods for use on computing devices with smallscreens or other systems without a mouse, such as a cell phone, PDA,gaming device, MP3 or media player, or tablet PC, are described inconjunction with FIG. 2 a and FIG. 2 b. An example embodiment on ahandheld device that can sense movement or position, such as an AppleiPhone or iTouch, will be described in conjunction with FIG. 2 c.Methods for determining icon selection within a graphical menu based oncursor position will be described in conjunction with FIGS. 3, 4 a-4 b,and 5 a-5 c. FIGS. 6 a and 6 b are flowcharts illustrating operation ofa computing device according to embodiments. Another embodimentincluding computer screen examples is discussed in conjunction withFIGS. 7 a-7 c. Other contemplated embodiments are discussed, includinguse of sound as a supplement to or replacement for display of agraphical menu.

DEFINITIONS OF CERTAIN TERMS

A “graphical menu” can include one or more graphical or textual objects,such as icons, where each of the objects is representative of aparticular menu option.

An “icon” can be a component of a graphical menu that could be anythingdisplayed on the screen that is visually distinguishable, such as apicture, button, frame, drawing, text, etc.

An “initial cursor position” can include a screen location of a cursorat the time the graphical menu system is initiated. The graphical menuis typically displayed around the initial cursor position and sufficientmovement from this position is typically required for an icon to beselected.

A “home region” is the region around the initial cursor position, andincluding the initial cursor position. The home region may extenddifferent distances from the initial cursor position, such as just adistance of a few millimeters on the display device to a few centimetersor more on the display device. Depending on the embodiment, the homeregion may be centered around the initial cursor position or may beoffset such that the initial cursor position is closer to one edge(e.g., a top edge) of the home region than to an opposite edge (e.g.,the bottom edge) of the home region. A home region may also bedetermined based on a location where a user has interfaced with adisplay device, where there may not be a cursor at all, such as alocation where a touchscreen was touched by a finger or stylus of theuser or where the finger or stylus moved in a predetermined pattern onthe touchscreen.

A “temporarily selected icon” can include an icon within a graphicalmenu that has been temporarily chosen by the user, but has not yet beenselected such that the particular menu option associated with thetemporarily selected icon has not yet been initiated. Rather, thegraphical menu is displayed so that the user can confirm that thetemporarily selected icon is the desired icon. If the user is notsatisfied with the indicated temporary selection, the user can choose adifferent icon within the graphical menu or choose no icon. Atemporarily selected icon may be displayed in such a way as to allow theuser to visually distinguish it from icons that are not temporarilyselected.

A “permanently selected icon” (or simply “selected icon”) can include anicon that has been selected by the user. When an icon is permanentlyselected, a software function associated with the icon is initiated bythe program or operating system. An icon may be permanently selected invarious manners, depending on the embodiment, some of which aredescribed in further detail below.

Computing Systems

In some embodiments, the computing devices, computing systems, mobiledevices, workstations, computer clients and/or servers described hereinmay comprise various combinations of components, such as the exemplarycombinations of components illustrated in FIG. 1 a-1 e. Discussionherein of one or more specific types of computing devices should beconstrued to include any other type of computing device. Thus, adiscussion of a method performed by a mobile computing device is alsocontemplated for performance on a desktop workstation, for example.

FIG. 1 a is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a computingsystem 100 that may be used to implement certain systems and methodsdescribed herein. For example, the computing system 100 may beconfigured to execute software modules that cause the display of a menuaround an area of focus (e.g., a current cursor position or a positionon a touch screen that is touched by a finger or stylus) on a displaydevice 104. Below is a description of exemplary components of thecomputing system 100.

The computing system 100 includes, for example, a personal computer thatis IBM, Macintosh, or Linux/Unix compatible. In one embodiment, thecomputing system 100 comprises a server, a desktop computer, a laptopcomputer, a mobile computer, a cell phone, a personal digital assistant,a gaming system, a kiosk, an audio player, any other device thatutilizes a graphical user interface (including office equipment,automobiles, airplane cockpits, household appliances, automated tellermachines, self-service checkouts at stores, information and otherkiosks, ticketing kiosks, vending machines, industrial equipment, etc.)and/or a television, for example. In one embodiment, the exemplarycomputing system 100 includes a central processing unit (“CPU”) 105,which may include one or more conventional or proprietarymicroprocessor. The computing system 100 further includes a memory 108,such as one or more random access memories (“RAM”) for temporary storageof information, a read only memory (“ROM”) for permanent storage ofinformation, and a mass storage device 102, such as a hard drive,diskette, flash memory drive, or optical media storage device. Themodules of the computing system 100 may be connected using a standardbased bus system. In different embodiments, the standard based bussystem could be Peripheral Component Interconnect (“PCI”), PCI Express,Accelerated Graphics Port (“ACP”), Microchannel, Small Computer SystemInterface (“SCSI”), Industrial Standard Architecture (“ISA”) andExtended ISA (“EISA”) architectures, for example. In addition, thefunctionality provided for in the components and modules of computingsystem 100 may be combined into fewer components and modules or furtherseparated into additional components and modules.

The computing system 100 is generally controlled and coordinated byoperating system software, such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT,Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Mobile,Unix, Linux (including any of the various variants thereof), SunOS,Solaris, mobile phone operating systems, or other compatible operatingsystems. In Macintosh systems, the operating system may be any availableoperating system, such as MAC OS X or iPhone OS. In other embodiments,the computing system 100 may be controlled by a proprietary operatingsystem. Conventional operating systems control and schedule computerprocesses for execution, perform memory management, provide file system,networking, I/O services, and provide a user interface, such as agraphical user interface (“GUI”), among other things.

The exemplary computing system 100 includes one or more input/output(I/O) devices and interfaces 110, such as a keyboard, trackball, mouse,drawing tablet, joystick, game controller, touchscreen (e.g., capacitiveor resistive touchscreen) touchpad, accelerometer, and printer, forexample. The computing system also includes a display device 104 (alsoreferred to herein as a display screen), which may also be one of theI/O device 110 in the case of a touchscreen, for example. In otherembodiments, the display device 104 may include an LCD, OLED, or otherthin screen display surface, a monitor, television, projector, or anyother device that visual depicts user interfaces and data to viewers.The display device 104 provides for the presentation of GUIs,application software data, and multimedia presentations, for example.The computing system 100 may also include one or more multimediadevices, such as speakers, video cards, graphics accelerators, andmicrophones, for example.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the I/O devices and interfaces 110 mayprovide a communication interface to various external devices. Forexample, the computing system 100 may be electronically coupled to anetwork, such as one or more of a LAN, WAN, or the Internet, forexample, via a wired, wireless, or combination of wired and wireless,communication link(s). Such a network may allow communication withvarious other computing devices and/or other electronic devices viawired or wireless communication links.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the computing system 100 also includes auser interface module 106 that may be executed by the CPU 105. Thismodule may include, by way of example, components, such as softwarecomponents, object-oriented software components, class components andtask components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures,subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode,circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, andvariables. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the computing system 100is configured to execute the user interface module 106, among others, inorder to provide user interfaces to the user, such as via the displaydevice 104, and monitor input from the user, such as via a touchscreensensor of the display device 104 and/or one or more I/O devices 110, inorder to navigate through various menus of a software application menu,for example.

In general, the word “module,” as used herein, refers to logic embodiedin hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions,possibly having entry and exit points, written in a programminglanguage, such as, for example, Java, Javascript, ActionScript, VisualBasic, Lua, C, C++, or C#. A software module may be compiled and linkedinto an executable program, installed in a dynamic link library, or maybe written in an interpreted programming language such as, for example,BASIC, Perl, or Python. It will be appreciated that software modules maybe callable from other modules or from themselves, and/or may be invokedin response to detected events or interrupts. Software instructions maybe embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be furtherappreciated that hardware modules may be comprised of connected logicunits, such as gates and flip-flops, and/or may be comprised ofprogrammable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. Themodules described herein are preferably implemented as software modules,but may be represented in hardware or firmware. Generally, the modulesdescribed herein refer to logical modules that may be combined withother modules or divided into sub-modules despite their physicalorganization or storage.

In other embodiments, the computing system may include fewer oradditional components than are illustrated in FIG. 1 a. For example, amobile computing device may not include a mass storage device 102 andthe display device 104 may also be the I/O device 110 (e.g., acapacitive touchscreen). In some embodiments, two or more of thecomponents of the computing system 100 may be implement in one or morefield programmable gate array (FPGA) or application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), for example.

Examples of Systems and Methods

In FIG. 1 b, view 120 illustrates a mouse 130 comprising a right button132. In view 120, a user depresses right mouse button 132 of mouse 130,with depression of the right mouse button illustrated with arrow 134. Inone embodiment, depressing the right mouse button 132 initiates displayof a graphical menu 140 on the display screen centered around initialcursor position 125 on the display device. In other embodiments, otheroperations may be performed on the mouse 120 (or other input device) inorder to initiate display of the graphical menu 140. In the embodimentof FIG. 1 b, the graphical menu 140 comprises one or more icons (in thisexample, eight octagonal icons labeled 141-148). Graphical menus andtheir component icons can vary in appearance and functionality, as willbe described below.

The example graphical menu 140 may be displayed on top of whatever elsemight be displayed on the display screen, with some portions of thegraphical menu transparent in some embodiments. In the example of FIG. 1b, the graphical menu 140 is displayed so that it is centered around theinitial cursor position 125.

For the purposes of the series of events illustrated in FIG. 1 b, FIG. 1c, and FIG. 1 d, it is assumed that by default, display of the graphicalmenu 140 is centered on initial cursor position 125 (e.g., the cursorposition when the user initiated displayed of the graphical menu, suchas by right clicking the mouse 130).

FIG. 1 c illustrates in view 122 a mouse movement that could be used totemporality select the icon 142 (FIG. 1 b), such that the icon 142 a(FIG. 1 c) is temporarily selected. As illustrated in view 122, the usercontinues action 134 of depressing the right mouse button 132 and, inthis example, moves the mouse 130 superiorly and to the right, along thepath depicted by arrow 136. This movement of the mouse causes cursor 170to move superiorly and to the right on the display device on which thegraphical menu 140 is displayed. Thus, FIG. 1 c illustrates cursor 170moved from the initial cursor position 125 towards icon 142 a.

As the cursor 170 approaches a portion of the graphical menu, an iconwithin the graphical menu is temporarily chosen and displayed in such away as to visually distinguish it from unselected icons within thegraphical menu. Thus, the graphical menu 140 shows the temporarilyselected icon 142 a displayed in a way that differentiates it from itsoriginal appearance as icon 142 (FIG. 1 b). In the example of FIGS. 1 band 1 c, icon 142 in FIG. 1 b has changed to icon 142 a in FIG. 1 c bychanging background and font colors of the icon 142, in order toindicate that icon 142 has been temporarily selected. There are manyways that an icon could change to depict that it is temporarily selectedand differentiate it from icons that are not chosen. For example, anicon may become animated when temporarily selected, may display amodified or different image or text, or may be transformed in any othermanner.

As noted above, in this exemplary embodiment the user is not required toposition the cursor 170 directly over an icon in order to select thaticon. As will be discussed in more detail below, only minimal movementtoward an icon may be required to select it, increasing efficiency anddecreasing necessary mouse movement and the potential for repetitivemotion injury.

FIG. 1 d demonstrates how the user indicates that the temporarilyselected icon 142 a (FIG. 1 c) is permanently selected, which representsa final choice for this interaction with the graphical menu and thegraphical menu is no longer displayed. As illustrated in view 124, theuser releases mouse button 132 such that the button moves in a directiondepicted by arrow 138 (e.g., releasing the right button 132). Thus, inthe embodiment of FIGS. 1 b, 1 c, and 1 d, an icon is temporarilyselected by depressing the right button 132 in order to initiate displayof the graphical menu, moving the cursor 170 towards (and/or partiallyor fully over) a desired icon in order to temporarily select the icon,and releasing the right button 132 to permanently select the desiredicon in order to initiate execution of an operation associated with theselected icon.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 b, graphical menu 140 isdisplayed symmetrically around initial cursor position 125. However, inanother embodiment where there is a default icon choice, for example,the graphical menu could be asymmetrically positioned around the initialcursor position such that an icon is chosen by default. In oneembodiment, the graphical menu 140 may be positioned such that a defaulticon is closer to the initial cursor position when the graphical menu140 is initially displayed. With reference to FIG. 1 c, for example, ifthe initial cursor position is the position of cursor 170 shown in FIG.1 c, rather than position 125 indicated in the figure, the menu 140 maybe initially displayed so that icon 142 a is temporarily selected as adefault. Depending on the embodiment, any of the icons in the graphicalmenu may be chosen by default, such as in response to optionsestablished by a user or based on frequency of use of respective icons,for example.

FIG. 1 e illustrates how icons within a graphical menu, and display of asecond graphical menu, can be selected in response to movements of acursor. There is no limit to the number of choices that can be presentedto the user using the graphical menus discussed herein. For example, thepermanent selection of an icon in one graphical menu could initiatedisplay of another graphical menu, as will be discussed in furtherdetail with reference to FIG. 1 e. This could be repeated so thatselection of an icon in a second graphical menu could open a thirdgraphical menu, and the process may be repeated ad infinitum to presentfurther graphical menus. One of the selections in a graphical menu couldbe to return to a previous graphical menu.

In FIG. 1 e, screen regions 160, 162, 164 and 166 represent the samephysical screen region but at different stages in the navigation of aprimary graphical menu (stages 160, 162) and a secondary graphical menu(stages 164, 166). Region 161 is a magnification of central region 169of screen region 160, with its approximate size and location illustratedby a dashed rectangle 169 within region 160. Magnified central regions163, 165, and 167 of screen regions 162, 164, and 166, respectively, arealso shown, with the corresponding magnified regions having the samerelationship as region 161 to screen region 160.

In FIG. 1 e, screen region 160 shows display of graphical menu 140including icons labeled A-H that are arranged in an icon regionsurrounding the initial cursor position of cursor 170, depicted in boththe dashed rectangle 169 and the magnified region 161 that representsthe content of the same dashed rectangle 169. In one embodiment, displayof the graphical menu 140 was initiated by user actions.

In screen region 162, the user has moved the cursor 170 superiorly andto the right along path 172, depicted in magnified region 163. In thisembodiment, movement of cursor 170 toward icon 152 has caused icon 152to be temporarily selected and its appearance has changed so that it canbe visually differentiated from unselected icons, such as icons 141 and143. As illustrated, icon 152 is temporarily selected before the cursorreaches the icon 152. In other embodiments, temporary selection of anicon may not occur until at least a predetermined portion of the cursorcovers an icon. Various criteria for determining when icons aretemporarily and/or permanently selected are discussed below.

In the example shown in FIG. 1 e, permanent selection of icon 152, suchas by releasing the right mouse button when icon 152 is temporarilyselected, for example, results in display of a new graphical menu 180.Depending on the embodiment, the display of graphical menu 180 shown inscreen region 164 could be configured to occur in the following examplecircumstances: (1) Display of the second graphical menu 180 could occuras soon as the icon 152 (or other icon associated with display of thegraphical menu 180) in the first graphical menu 150 is temporarilyselected, (2) display of the second graphical menu 180 could occur afterthe icon 152 is permanently selected, such as by releasing the rightmouse button or with one of the other techniques describe herein, or (3)display of the graphical menu 180 could occur after a time delay. Thiswould allow the user to reposition the cursor 170 if an undesired iconis temporarily selected (e.g., rather than immediately replacinggraphical menu 150 with graphical menu 180 when the undesired icon istemporarily selected). A selected time delay, such as 100 milliseconds,for example, could be set such that permanent selection of an icon, anddisplay of a second menu in this example, would occur after an icon istemporarily selected for at least 100 milliseconds.

The screen region 164 depicts display of the secondary graphical menu180 and removal of graphical menu 150, such as in response to one of theabove-indicated interactions with icon 152. In this embodiment, thesecondary graphical menu 180 is centered around a new initial cursorposition, the position of the cursor in screen region 162 at the timethat icon 152 was permanently selected. As discussed elsewhere herein,graphical menus can vary in their appearance and graphical menu 180happens to have 4 square icons. Screen region 165 depicts amagnification of screen region 164, as described above.

Screen regions 166 and 167 illustrate what happens when the user movesthe cursor inferiorly from the position illustrated in screen regions164 and 165 along the path illustrated by arrow 174. Cursor movementinferiorly has caused the temporary selection of an icon 187 withingraphical menu 186. Graphical menu 186 is the same as graphical menu 180except that an icon has been temporarily selected. Specifically,graphical menu 186 has a temporarily selected icon 187 displayed in away that differentiates it from unselected icons such as 182 and 183.

Implementation on Cell Phones, PDAs, Tablet PCs

Some computing systems with displays do not utilize a mouse fornavigation and the user interfaces described herein can be implementedwith other forms of navigation. For example, FIGS. 2 a and 2 billustrate the implementation of an enhanced user interface using astylus, but other navigation devices could be utilized, such as a fingercontrolled touch screen or directional navigation buttons, for example.In the description below, the device in FIG. 2 a and FIG. 2 b will bereferred to as a cell phone, but it could be a PDA, tablet PC, or otherdevice with a display screen 212. While the pointing device illustratedis a stylus 214, it could alternatively be the user's finger or otherobject.

In FIG. 2 a, the user initiates an action that causes display ofgraphical menu 230. In this implementation, display of the graphicalmenu 230 is initiated by detection of a particular motion path 220 onthe input screen 212. In this embodiment, motion path 220 comprisesroughly the path that the user would use to draw the number “6” usingthe stylus 214. The user interface software that executes on the cellphone 210 could be configured to display other graphical display menusfor other input tracings. For example, the interface software could beconfigured to display a different graphical menu in response to the usertracing a path similar to the letter “L” or any other pattern. Displayof graphical menus could be initiated in many other ways, as will bedescribed herein.

In this example, graphical menu 230 has eight hexagonal icons and isdisplayed centered about where the input pattern was completed on thedisplay screen. Thus, in the embodiment of FIG. 2 a, the initial cursorposition is a terminal position of tracing 220. In other embodiments,the graphical menu 230 may be centered elsewhere, such as a startposition of the tracing 220 or some intermediate position of the tracing220, for example. Icon 237 is one of the eight icons within graphicalmenu 230.

The user can temporarily select an icon within the graphical menu 230 bymoving the stylus 214 toward the desired icon. FIG. 2 b shows an examplewhere the user has moved the stylus 214 towards the left along path 222.This movement causes temporary selection of the closest icon, in thiscase the icon 237, which changes appearance in FIG. 2 b in response tobeing temporarily selected, in order to allow it to be visuallydifferentiated from the other unselected icons in the graphical menu240, for example unselected icon 246.

FIG. 2 c illustrates the use of a graphical menu 270 on another handhelddevice 260 that has the ability to monitor its position (e.g.,orientation) or movement. The device 260 is a handheld device such as acell phone (e.g., iPhone), PDA, tablet PC, portable music or mediaplayer, gaming device or other handheld device with a display screen. Inanother embodiment, device 260 could be an input device, such as a Wiicontroller or 3D mouse, where the screen is on another device.

In order to use this graphical menu system in the way that will bedescribed in FIG. 2 c, device 260 includes technology that allows it tosense its position and/or motion, such as one or more accelerometers.Device 260 has display screen 270 and may have one or more input devices264 and 265, that could include buttons or other input devices. Device260 is depicted in view 250 in an arbitrary orientation (e.g., positionheld by the user). As will be described, its position will be changed bythe user in views 252 and 254 in order to indicate selection of icons.

In view 250 of FIG. 2 c, graphical menu 270 is displayed on screen 262and includes icons 271-274. The user initiated some action to cause thegraphical menu to be displayed, for example one of the other techniquesdescribed herein. Additional ways the user could initiate display ofgraphical menu 270 include the pressing of a button, for example button264, voice or other audible commands, touching the screen with twofingers in a predetermined pattern and/or location, or some positioningof device 260, such as shaking it side to side.

In view 252 of FIG. 2 c, x, y, and z axes are illustrated to indicaterepositioning of the device by the user. The x axis and y axis are inthe plane of screen 262 of device 260, along its short and long axisrespectively, and the z axis is perpendicular to the screen. Motion path285 illustrates that the user is physically rotating the device towardhis left along the y axis. Device 260 detects movement of the device 260along motion path 285 and temporarily selects the icon within thegraphical menu that is positioned in the detected direction from thepoint of view of the center of the graphical menu. In this case, becausethe motion path 285 comprises rotation of the device 260 towards theleft, the left icon 274 of the graphical menu 270 is temporarilyselected. Once temporarily selected, one or more characteristics of icon274 are changed (as shown by the dark background of icon 274 in view252) in order to allow it to be visually differentiated from theremaining unselected icons.

In view 254 of FIG. 2 c, x, y, and z axes are again illustrated as inview 252. As illustrated by motion path 286, the user is rotating thedevice downward (toward him, rotating about the x axis). In response tothis movement, the computing device temporarily selects the icon 273 atthe bottom of the graphical menu 270. In this case, selected icon 273 isillustrated in a way to differentiate it from the remaining unselectedicons. While views 252 and 254 illustrate rotation around specific axes,the user may rotate the device in any arbitrary direction to allowtemporary selection of an icon at any position on the screen.

In one embodiment, an icon that is temporarily selected may bepermanently selected without further user interaction (e.g., therereally is no temporary selection, by maintaining the device 260 in anorientation to temporarily select an icon for a predetermined timeperiod), by pressing a button, such as one of buttons 264, 265, or byany other input that may be provided by the user of the device 260.

In the example depicted in FIG. 2 c, detection of “pouring” motions(e.g., motion 252 shows the device being tilted as if the user ispouring into icon 274) can be facilitated by tilt sensor(s) and/oraccelerometer(s). In certain embodiments, sufficient number of suchdetection components can be provided so as to allow motion-basedtemporary selection and/or permanent selection of icons having both xand y components. For example, suppose than a fifth icon is providedbetween icons A and B (in first quadrant of the x-y plane). Then, atilting motion towards such an icon can be detected by sensing acombination of motions about y and x axes (motions opposite to 285 and286).

There are a number of other motion-based user inputs that can beimplemented to achieve similar results. For example, a device can bejerked slightly towards an icon that the user wants to temporarily (orpermanently) select. For such motions, one or more accelerometers can beprovided and configured to detect two-dimensional motion along a planesuch as a plane substantially parallel to the device screen.

Methods for Determining Icon Selection

There are many possible methods for determining if a user has selectedan icon within a graphical menu. Several will be described herein, butothers are contemplated that would provide the same or similarfunctionality.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating screen regions 320-328 of a graphicalmenu 150, where movement of a cursor 303 onto certain screen regions maybe used to determine which icon within the graphical menu has beenselected (or temporarily selected) by the user. Using such a mappingscheme, an icon within the graphical menu may be selected when the userpositions the cursor 303 within a screen region corresponding to anicon.

In this example, graphical menu 150 depicts eight icons, 141, 152, 143,144, 145, 146, 147, and 148. The screen is divided into multiple regions320-328, with regions 321-328 corresponding to respective icons andregion 320 centered on the initial cursor position, around which thegraphical menu is displayed. In this embodiment, each of the regions321-328 includes at least a portion of its respective icon. In thisexample, region 320 is centered about the initial cursor position at thetime the graphical menu was displayed. In the example shown, region 321corresponds to icon 141, region 322 to icon 152, region 323 to icon 143,region 324 to icon 144, region 325 to icon 145, region 326 to icon 146,region 327 to icon 147, and region 328 to icon 148.

Determining whether the cursor falls within a region is straightforwardin this example as the regions are bounded by horizontal lines 331 and333 and vertical lines 335 and 337 which may be represented by x and ycoordinates in a computer system. For the purposes of illustration,lines 335, 337, 331 and 333 are labeled with “x1”, “x2”, “y1”, and “y2”,respectively, in order to indicate their positions in the coordinatesystem of screen 310 as follows:

Vertical line 335 is at position x1.

Vertical line 337 is at position x2.

Horizontal line 331 is at position y1.

Horizontal line 333 is at position y2.

In this embodiment, if the position of cursor 303 at any given time isrepresent by coordinates (x,y), determining the region that the cursoris positioned can be accomplished as follows:

If x>x1 and x<x2 and y≧y2 then in region 321.

If x>x1 and x<x2 and y>y1 and y<y2 then in region 320.

If x>x1 and x<x2 and y≦y1 then in region 325.

If x≧x2 and y≧y2 then in region 322.

If x≧x2 and y>y1 and y<y2 then in region 323.

If x≧x2 and y≦y1 then in region 324.

If x≦x1 and y≧y2 then in region 328.

If x≦x1 and y>y1 and y<y2 then in region 327.

If x≦x1 and y≦y1 then in region 326.

FIG. 4 a is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a graphicalmenu including screen regions that may be used to determine which iconwithin a graphical menu has been selected by the user. In thisembodiment, screen 402 includes a graphical menu having 8 hexagonalicons. Position 404 indicates the initial cursor position when thegraphical menu was rendered at its current position on the screen.

In this example, the screen 402 is divided into radial regions 421-428and a central home region 420 centered in the graphical menu. In thisembodiment, radial regions 421-428 each correspond to a respective iconin the graphical menu. For example, region 421 corresponds to icon 431,region 422 corresponds to icon 432, and region 423 corresponds to icon433.

When cursor 410 is positioned within home region 420, no icon isselected. When the user moves the cursor out of home region 420 and intoanother region, the icon within that region is temporarily selected. Inthis case, cursor 410 has been moved by the user into region 422. Thishas caused temporary selection of the corresponding icon 432 which isdisplayed in such a way as to differentiate it from the unselected iconswithin the graphical menu. In this example the temporarily selected iconis displayed as darker and the letter inside it displayed with adifferent font and color, but there are many other ways that atemporarily selected icon could be visually distinguished fromunselected icons.

FIG. 4 b is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a userinterface including screen regions 461-468 that may be used to determinewhich icon within a graphical menu has been selected by the user, wherethe user interface includes asymmetric icons and asymmetric screenregions used for detection of icon selection. In the embodiment of FIG.4 b, the graphical menu comprises eight icons within screen region 440.This example demonstrates that unselected icons within a graphical menumay differ in appearance, including features such as size and shape. Inaddition, the size and/or shape of the screen regions associated witheach icon in a graphical menu may differ.

The screen regions associated with each icon can differ in size andshape. This may be advantageous in cases where some icons are morecommonly chosen than other. More commonly selected icons might beassigned larger associated screen regions to make it easier for the userto select those areas and therefore the respective icon. While therelative size of the various screen regions could vary independently ofthe size of the icons in the function menu, in this example icons 473and 477 are larger than the other icons in the graphical menu, and theirassociated screen regions 463 and 467 are also larger than the otherscreen regions.

As in a previous example, home region 460 is centered where the cursorwas positioned at the time the graphical menu was displayed. When cursor170 is positioned within the home region, no icon is selected. In otherembodiments, however, a default icon may be temporarily selected evenwhen the cursor 170 is initially positioned within the home region 460.

The remainder of screen region 440 is divided into eight regions, oneeach corresponding to the icons within the graphical menu, with screenregions 461-468 depicted using underlined text in the figure. Forexample, region 461 is associated with unselected icon 471, region 462with unselected icon 472, region 463 with selected icon 473, and region467 with unselected icon 477.

In this example, the user has positioned cursor 170 in region 463,causing temporary selection of icon 473. In this example, icon 473 hadan appearance similar to 477 when it was unselected, but upon temporaryselection of the icon 473, the icon 473 changed its appearance to allowit to be differentiated from the unselected ions. Temporarily selectedicon 473 is darker than the unselected icons and the letter within ithas a different font, larger, bold, and white instead of black color.

FIG. 5 a is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a graphicalmenu. In this embodiment, instead of dividing the screen into regions,this technique uses distance between the cursor and icons to determinewhether and which icon is selected.

For the purposes of describing this technique, the initial cursorposition 504 is the screen position at which the graphical menu wasinitially displayed.

In the technique depicted in FIG. 5 a, each icon is associated with asingle position (icon location point). In the example shown, graphicalmenu 150 has eight hexagonal icons, including icons 141, 152, and 143.In this example, each icon's location point is at the icon center.However, an icon's location point could be assigned to any positionwithin the icon or even outside of the icon. In the example shown, theicon location point for icon 143 is at position 514.

The location of user controlled cursor 510 is screen position 507 in thefigure. In the figure, the distance between each icon's location pointand the cursor position 507 is depicted by a dashed line. For example,dashed line 516, which would be invisible to the user of the graphicalmenu, represents the distance between cursor position 507 and iconlocation point 514 of icon 143.

Determining whether an icon has been selected and if so, which one, canbe accomplished by using the distances between the cursor position andicon location points. Determining whether any icon has been selected canbe determined in a number of ways. Two non-limiting examples aredescribed below.

With one technique, the distance between the cursor position 507 andinitial cursor position 504 is determined, depicted in the figure asdashed line 512. This distance is compared to a threshold distance,wherein when the distance is above the threshold distance (e.g., thecursor is close enough to an icon), an icon is temporarily selected.Thus, once it is determined that the cursor is positioned such that anicon should be temporarily selected, the computing system determineswhich of the icons is the selected icon. In one embodiment, a particularicon is identified for temporary selection by assessing the distancesbetween the cursor location 507 and icon location points, and thenselecting the icon with the smallest cursor to icon location pointdistance. It is possible that two or more icons might have equal cursorto icon location point distances. This situation may be resolved inseveral ways, such as (1) no icon would be selected until the userrepositions the cursor so that the choice is unique, (2) icons could beassigned priorities so that the highest priority icon is chosen in thecase of distance ties, or (3) an icon is randomly chosen from among thisgroup, for example.

In the example shown, distance 518 is the smallest cursor position toicon location distance, causing icon 152 to be temporarily selected.Note that appearance of selected icon 152 differs from the otherunselected icons in graphical menu 150.

In another embodiment, rather that performing the step of firstdetermining whether an icon is selected, such as based on a distancebetween the cursor and an initial cursor position, and then determinewhich specific icon has been selected, the computing device mayrepeatedly recalculate distances between the cursor position 507 and oneor more icon locations until one of the distances falls below athreshold.

FIG. 5 b and FIG. 5 c illustrate another technique in which distance isused to determine whether an icon is temporarily or permanently selectedand, if so, which one. The technique illustrated in FIG. 5 a utilizes asingle icon location point of each icon. However, multiple icon locationpoints can be utilized for icons.

FIG. 5 b illustrates icon 530 with multiple icon location points 531-535positioned at its vertices. However, icon location points can beassigned at any positions within an icon, along its edge or outside ofit.

FIG. 5 c illustrates a graphical menu 540 having four icons, 541-544. Asin FIG. 5 b, each of these icons has 5 icon location points, one at eachof its vertices. The position 507 of cursor 510 is illustrated in thefigure. Dashed line 548 depicts the distance between cursor position 507and one of the icon location positions, 535 of icon 543. The figureillustrates dashed lines between cursor position 507 and several of theother icon location points of the icons in the graphical menu. Inpractice, the distance from the cursor location to every icon locationpoint may be determined.

The process of determining whether and which icon would be selected withmultiple icon locations per icon may be similar to that used with asingle icon location per icon. In the case of multiple icons locationsper icon, the cursor to icon location distance for each icon is theminimum distance of its icon location points to the cursor location.

Flowcharts

FIG. 6 a is a flowchart 600 illustrating one embodiment of a method thatcould be used for display and interaction of a user with a graphicalmenu. As discussed above with FIG. 1 e, graphical menus can be cascaded,as discussed in reference to the flowchart in FIG. 6 b. There is nolimit to the number of levels that could be implemented in such acascade or tree of graphical menus. The method of FIG. 6 a may beperformed on any suitable computing device, such as one of the computingdevices discussed above with reference to FIG. 1 a. Depending on theembodiment, the method of FIGS. 6 a and 6 b may include fewer oradditional blocks and the blocks may be performed in a different orderthan is illustrated.

In flowchart 600, a graphical menu module that is configured to displaygraphical menus is first initiated in block 610. The graphical menumodule may include software code that is executed by a computing device,such as a mobile or desktop computing device. The graphical menu moduleis configured to cause the computing device to display the graphicalmenu and detect interactions of the user (e.g., a cursor controlled bythe user or a stylus or finger touching the display screen). In oneembodiment, the graphical menu module comprises a standalone softwareapplication that interfaces with other software applications on acomputing device. Alternatively, the graphical menu module may beincorporated into another software application, such as a wordprocessor, graphic application, image viewing application, or any othersoftware application. Alternatively, the graphical menu module could bepart of the operating system. Depending on the embodiment, theinitiation of the graphical menu module might occur as a result of auser's action, for example depression of the right mouse button, orcould occur automatically as a result a program or the operating systeminitiating the system to obtain user input. In response to initiation ofthe graphical menu module, a graphical menu is provided via a displaydevice, such as a monitor or screen of a mobile computing device.

In block 612, the graphical menu module determines whether the user hasfinished using the displayed graphical menu. For example, by releasingthe right mouse button (possibly indicating a desire to permanentlyselect a temporarily selected icon and initiate execution of a processassociated with the icon), the user may indicate that he has finishedwith the current instance of the graphical menu system. Alternatively, auser may indicate that he is finished with a graphical menu by moving acursor off of the graphical menu, such as outside an area of the screenwhere the graphical menu is displayed. In one embodiment, certaingraphical menus may “time out,” so that if no user input is received fora predetermined time period, the user is considered to be finished withthe graphical menu and the method continues to block 620.

If the user is not finished using the displayed graphical menu, in block614 the system determines whether an icon is temporarily selected using,for example, one of the techniques described herein.

If no icon has been temporarily selected, in block 616 the graphicalmenu is displayed with no icon selected (e.g., shaded or otherwisedistinguished from other icons) in block 616. The method then loops backto block 612 and again senses whether the user is finished with thegraphical menu.

If an icon has been temporarily selected, in block 618 the graphicalmenu is displayed with the selected icon displayed in a way thatdifferentiates it from the unselected icons, as described herein. Themethod then loops back to block 612 and again senses whether the user isfinished with the graphical menu.

If the graphical menu module determines that that the user is finishedin block 612, the method branches to block 620 and determines whether anicon was permanently selected. If an icon is determined to have beenpermanently selected, the method branches to block 622 where thegraphical menu module returns the identity of the permanently selectedicon to the program or operating system that the graphical menu moduleis configured to interact with. In another embodiment, permanentselection of an icon initiates display of a secondary menu comprising aplurality of icons about the current cursor position. Thus, blocks612-624 may be repeated with respect to the secondary menu in order todetermine if an icon of the second memory is selected. The process maybe repeated any number of times in relation to any number of differentmenus that may be navigated to via other graphical menus.

At block 620 if no icon has been permanently selected, the methodbranches to block 624 where the graphical menu module returns anindication that no icon of the graphical menu was permanently selectedto the program or operating system that the graphical menu module isconfigured to interact with.

FIG. 6 b is a flowchart 602 with logic similar to FIG. 6 a, except forblocks 630 and 632. In the case that no icon was selected, a secondarymenu is displayed in block 630. The user can pick from this secondarymenu in block 632. This secondary menu could be a graphical menu, asdescribed herein, or could be a conventional menu, as illustrated inFIG. 7 c.

FIG. 7 a illustrates a graphical menu superimposed on a homogenousscreen. In this embodiment, the graphical menu 710 comprises eightsquare icons, 711-718. Cursor 720 is positioned near icon 711 causingicon 711 to be selected, using one of the techniques described herein.The selected icon 711 appears color inverted with respect to the otherunselected icons in the graphical menu, allowing the user to easilydifferentiate the selected icon from unselected icons.

FIG. 7 b illustrates a graphical menu superimposed on a complex screenoutput of a program that called the graphical menu. In particular, thegraphical menu is superimposed on the contents of the screen 709, inthis case a gray scale image. In addition, the cursor is superimposed ontop of both the graphical menu and the underlying image on the screen.In this example, the cursor position is near the initial cursor positionand no icon within the graphical menu is selected. In one embodiment,the graphical menu may have some transparency, as illustrated in thisfigure. In one embodiment, a level of transparency can be selected bythe user.

FIG. 7 c illustrates user interactions with the graphical menuillustrated in FIG. 7 a or FIG. 7 b. A screen region 730 on which thegraphical menu is superimposed is similar to screen regions 708 and 709in FIG. 7 a and FIG. 7 b, respectively. For clarity, the variouscomponents of screen region 730 are not annotated as they are analogousto those illustrated in FIG. 7 a and FIG. 7 b. Screen region 730illustrates a graphical menu having eight unselected icons superimposedon a screen region that in this case is a grayscale image. The cursor isdisplayed as well, as previously. In this case the cursor is positionedin a region within the graphical menu and no icon within the graphicalmenu has yet been temporarily selected.

View 731, which is associated with screen region 730, illustrates mouseactivity that could have been used to initiate display of the graphicalmenu within screen region 730. Exemplary mouse 725 includes one or morebuttons. In this example, depression of the right mouse button 726causes display of the graphical menu. Depression of button 726 isillustrated by arrow 732.

View 741 is similar to view 731. While continuing to depress the rightmouse button, illustrated by arrow 732, the user moves the mouse to theright, illustrated by motion path 742. This causes rightward motion ofthe cursor, repositioning it from its position in screen view 730 tothat in screen view 740. This causes selection of an icon, as describedpreviously. In comparing the graphical menu in screen view 740 to thatin screen view 730, it can be seen that an icon has changed itsappearance, indicating to the user that it has been temporarilyselected.

View 751 is similar to view 741 but illustrates further mouse movement.In view 751, the user moves mouse 725 superiorly, illustrated by mousepath 752. As in the example illustrated in 740 and 741, this results inrepositioning of the cursor and selection of a different icon within thegraphical menu.

View 761 illustrates the case where there is little or no cursorrepositioning compared to the original position of the cursor in view730. In this case, net movement of the mouse is insufficient for an iconto be selected within the graphical menu, as discussed previously. Inthis example, release of mouse button 726, illustrated by arrow 762,results in the display of a different menu from which the user canchoose. Thus, the user may be presented with a first graphical menu inresponse to a first action (e.g., depressing the mouse button) and maybe presented with a second menu in response to a second action thatfollows the first action (e.g., releasing the mouse button withouttemporarily selecting an icon).

Other Contemplated Embodiments

For some of the embodiments illustrated herein, the user input device isa mouse. However, any input device or combination of input devices couldbe used to control the graphical menus described herein, including:mouse, trackball, keyboard, touch screen, 3d mice, foot controls,pointing sticks, touchpad, graphics tablet, joystick, brain-computerinterfaces, eye-tracking systems, Wii remote, jog dial, and/or steeringwheel.

A graphical menu module could be implemented in many situations. Forexample, a graphical menu module can be implemented within a computerprogram where the user might use it to choose among options. Forexample, in a word processing program it might be used to allow the userto choose font options, such as bold, italic, and underline. In a PACSsystem it might be used to allow users to choose various predefineddisplay settings for an image.

In another example, a graphical menu module can be implemented within acomputer program to allow selection of various operations. For example,in a word processing program it could be used to choose among operationslike copy, paste, delete, and indent. In a PACS system it could be usedto choose among different operations such as window/level, chooseseries, region of interest, zoom, pan, and others.

In another example, a graphical menu module can be implemented within anoperating system where it could be used to choose among operations like“launch web browser,” “launch word processing program,” “launchspreadsheet program,” and so on.

In another example, a graphical menu module can be implemented as anadd-in program or standalone driver, such as a mouse driver, that wouldallow the use of the system in cases where it had not been directlyimplemented within a program or operating system. The system may beconfigured to send key strokes or other inputs to the program oroperating system for which it was configured.

The appearance and operation of graphical menus used in the system couldvary in many ways. For example, the graphical menu, the icons itincludes, and how it operates could vary depending on the context inwhich it was launched. Graphical menus could differ depending on theprogram or operating system that utilized the system. In addition theycould be configurable by the user. In another example, graphical menuscould contain one or more icons. In another example, icons withingraphical menus could take many forms, including a computer graphic, apicture, and/or text. In another example, icons within a graphical menucould vary in appearance and size. In another example, different methodscould be used to allow a user to visually differentiate selected fromunselected icons within a graphical menu. For example, the icons couldbe differentiated by icon appearance, size, color, brightness, featuresof text font (such as size, bold, italics), and/or motion or blinking(e.g., the selected icon could blink or shake back and forth on thedisplay).

While depression of the right button of a mouse is used in severalexamples to initiate display of a graphical menu, many other ways arecontemplated to initiate display of a graphical menu. For example, suchinitiation can be via a key on a keyboard, a button on any input device(with example input devices listed herein), a mouse gesture, a gestureon a touch screen with a finger or stylus, physical motion of the device(for example, shaking a handheld device), a result of picking an icon onanother graphical menu, and/or a result of a computer or systemoperation, rather than the result of the user initiating the action. Forexample, a computer program or operating system might require the userto provide input and in that case display a graphical menu. In anotherexample, a computer with a battery that is running low might display agraphical menu allowing the user to choose among: continue working, shutdown, save all open documents, and initiate hibernation.

After an icon is temporarily selected within a graphical menu, severalexamples herein illustrate the user permanently selecting that icon byreleasing the right mouse button. However, they are many ways that auser could permanently select an icon from a graphical menu, including:removing a stylus or finger from a touch screen, pressing a button orkey, a mouse gesture, sound input, cursor movement (for example, slightmovement from the initial cursor position toward an icon might result init being temporarily selected; and further movement toward the iconmight result in the icon being permanently selected and termination ofdisplay of the graphical menu), time (the system could be configuredsuch that a temporarily selected icon would be permanently selectedafter it was temporarily selected for a predetermined time duration, sayfor example 100 milliseconds), and/or if the user positioned the cursorover the icon or a predetermined portion of the icon.

Sound

Sound could be used in several ways with this technique to supplementthe use of a graphical menu or substitute for the display of a graphicalmenu. For example, when any icon is temporarily selected, a sound couldbe played, for example a beep.

In another example, when no icon is temporality selected (e.g., when theuser moves the cursor back toward its initial cursor position aftertemporarily selecting an icon), a sound could be played. This could bedifferent than the sound played when an icon is selected (e.g.,temporary selection of an icon could cause a single beep, and subsequentcursor movement that resulted in no icon selected could result in adouble beep).

In another example, different sounds could be played for differenticons, even spoken words. This could allow the user to accurately verifyselection of an icon without the need for visual verification. Forexample, a graphical menu within a word processing program might havefour choices: “cut”, “copy”, “paste”, and “look up”. As the userrepositions the cursor, these options could be spoken. If one of thesewas chosen and the user repositioned to another, the sound associatedwith the new choice would be spoken. If he repositioned the cursor sothat none were chosen, a different phase could be spoken, such as “noselection”.

In another example, a system using sound could be constructed in whichvisual display of the graphical menu was not required. This might behelpful in situations such as: blind users and drivers or pilots wherethe user would want to choose from a menu of options but not want todirect his attention to a display screen.

SUMMARY

All of the processes described above may be embodied in, and fullyautomated via, software code modules executed by one or more generalpurpose or specially configured computers. The code modules may bestored in any type of computer-readable medium or other computer storagedevice. Some or all of the methods may alternatively be embodied inspecialized computer hardware. In addition, the components referred toherein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or acombination thereof.

Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode which include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executedout of order from that shown or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the methods andsystems described above may be implemented by one or more computingdevices, such as a memory for storing computer executable components forimplementing the processes shown, as well as a process unit forexecuting such components. It will further be appreciated that the dataand/or components described above may be stored on a computer readablemedium and loaded into a memory of a computer device using a drivemechanism, such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or network interface, for readingsuch computer readable medium. Further, the components and/or data canbe included in a single device or distributed in any manner.

The foregoing description details certain embodiments of the invention.It will be appreciated, however, that no matter how detailed theforegoing appears in text, the invention can be practiced in many ways.As is also stated above, it should be noted that the use of particularterminology when describing certain features or aspects of the inventionshould not be taken to imply that the terminology is being re-definedherein to be restricted to including any specific characteristics of thefeatures or aspects of the invention with which that terminology isassociated.

1. A method for providing a user interface on a computing device, themethod comprising: displaying a first menu on a display of a computingdevice, the first menu having a first plurality of icons arranged in anicon region that extends substantially around an initial position of acursor, wherein the icon region defines a central region within the iconregion that includes the initial cursor position; detecting movement ofthe cursor to a second position within the central region, wherein thesecond position of the cursor is near a first icon of the firstplurality of icons or includes at least a portion of the first icon;changing an appearance of the first icon in response to detectingmovement of the cursor to the second position, wherein the change inappearance indicates that the icon is temporarily selected; initiating afirst action associated with the first icon in response to detecting aninput from the user indicating that the first icon should be permanentlyselected, wherein at least some of the method is performed by thecomputing device.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingdisplaying information associated with the temporarily selected icon. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein the information comprises a second menucomprising a second plurality of icons that are displayed in the iconregion.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein at least some of the firstplurality of icons are replaced by at least some of the second pluralityof icons in response to temporary selection of the first icon.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the cursor comprises a cursor that iscontrolled by an input device coupled to the computing system.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the cursor comprises a position at which aninput device interfaced with a display device of the computing system.7. The method of claim 6, wherein the input device comprises a stylus orfinger.
 8. A method for providing a user interface on a computingdevice, the method comprising: displaying a first menu on a display ofthe computing device, the first menu having a plurality of iconsarranged substantially around a current position of a cursor, theplurality of icons defining a central region of the display between theplurality of icons and including the current position of the cursor;receiving a first input indicative of movement of the cursor;determining which of the plurality of icons is to be temporarilyselected based at least in part on a pattern of the first input withinthe central region; and temporarily selecting the determined icon. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein the icons are arranged such that thecurrent position of the cursor is generally centered within the icons,such that the pattern of the first input can be used to indicatetemporary selection of any of the icons in a relatively quick manner.10. The method of claim 8, wherein one or more of the icons aredisplayed differently than others and/or one of the icons is temporarilyselected before receiving the first input, based on likelihoods ofselection of respective icons, a user preference, or a default setting.11. The method of claim 8, wherein the first input comprises a motion ofthe computing device.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the first inputcomprises an input from an input device interfaced with the display ofthe computing device.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the inputdevice comprises a mouse.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the inputdevice comprises a touch screen sensor configured to sense contact witha stylus or finger.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein an areacorresponding to the first menu is divided into a plurality ofselectable regions about the central region so that selectable regionsat least partially overlap with respective icons, wherein the pattern ofthe first input comprises movement of the cursor to a selectable regionof an icon that is to be temporarily selected.
 16. The method of claim15, wherein each of the icons is substantially within its correspondingselectable region.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein at least one ofthe selectable regions includes its corresponding icon and a portion ofone or more neighboring icons.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein atleast one selectable region is larger than other selectable regions andincludes one or more portions of neighboring icons in response to apredetermined likelihood of use of the icon corresponding to the atleast one selectable region or the user's preference.
 19. The method ofclaim 15, wherein at least one selectable region is larger than otherselectable regions.
 20. The method of claim 8, wherein the pattern ofthe first input comprises a beginning position within the central regionand an ending position that defines a parameter that is usable in thedetermining of which of the plurality of icons is to be temporarilyselected.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the parameter comprises adirection parameter that is usable in the determining of which of theplurality of icons is to be temporarily selected.
 22. The method ofclaim 20, wherein the parameter comprises a distance parameter that isusable in the determining of which of the plurality of icons is to betemporarily selected.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the distanceparameter comprises a closest distance between the ending position andan icon.
 24. The method of claim 22, wherein the distance parametercomprises a distance between the ending position and a center of anicon.
 25. The method of claim 22, wherein the distance parametercomprises an average distance between the ending position and one ormore features on an icon.
 26. A computing system, comprising: a displayscreen; an input device configured to facilitate interaction with auser; and a processor configured to execute software code that causesthe computing system to display a menu on the display screen, the menuhaving a plurality of icons arranged about a home region; detect aninput facilitated by the input device and indicative of the user'sdesire to at least temporarily select one of the icons; and determinewhich of the icons is to be at least temporarily selected based at leastin part on a pattern of the input, the pattern involving at least a partof the home region.
 27. The system of claim 26, wherein the icons arearranged such that the home region is approximately centered relative tothe icons.
 28. The system of claim 26, wherein the input comprises amotion of the computing system.
 29. The system of claim 28, wherein themotion comprises a tilt towards an icon to be temporarily selected. 30.The system of claim 29, wherein the input device comprises one or moreaccelerometers to detect the tilt.
 31. A method for providing a userinterface on a computing device, the method comprising: displaying afirst menu on a display of a computing device, the first menu having afirst plurality of icons arranged in an icon region that extendssubstantially around an interaction position, wherein the interactionposition comprises an area of the display where a user or an apparatuscontrolled by a user touched the display, a current position of acursor, or a predetermined position on the display; receiving a firstuser-initiated input indicative of movement from the interactionposition; and in response to the movement, selecting an icon associatedwith a direction of the first user-initiated input, wherein at leastsome of the method is performed by the computing device.
 32. The methodof claim 31, wherein selecting the icon comprises one or more ofemitting an audible sound or changing an appearance of the icon.
 33. Themethod of claim 32, further comprising initiating a software processassociated with the icon in response to one or more of receiving asecond user-initiated input indicative of permanent selection of theicon; or receiving no user-initiated input for at least a predeterminedtime period.
 34. The method of claim 33, wherein the predetermined timeperiod is selected from the group comprising about 50, 100, 200, 500, or1000 milliseconds.
 35. The method of claim 33, wherein the softwareprocess comprises displaying a second menu on the display or performingone or more functions of a software application on the computing device.36. The method of claim 31, wherein selecting the icon comprises:initiating a software process associated with the icon.
 37. The methodof claim 36, wherein the software process comprises displaying a secondmenu on the display or performing one or more functions of a softwareapplication on the computing device.
 38. The method of claim 31, whereinthe first user-initiated input comprises a motion by the user or theapparatus controlled by the user, movement of an input device, ormovement of the computing device.
 39. The method of claim 38, whereinmovement of the input device is detected by one or more accelerometersof the computing device.